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PayPalIt seems with all the people emulating games on the Steam Deck and how popular doing so has become, Nintendo has continued to take notice and fired off some DMCA requests to have images taken down (thanks GBAtemp).
To get started with: what is SteamGridDB? It's a website that hosts various images for various games, to help you add fancy artwork into Non-Steam games you add into your Steam Library. So instead of seeing Steam's default image for Non-Steam games, you get it all looking nice. Naturally, this means people will be uploading plenty of images they don't own, and often the official game images for various games on other platforms for when people are doing emulation.
Nintendo being clearly unhappy with this, fired off many DMCA requests and now you might spot several images across the likes of (each link an example of one removed): Pokémon Scarlet, Pokémon Violet, Splatoon 3, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
It's not just for emulation though, it has game pictures for tons of games that you can use as an alternative to the official images included with Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Most of the artwork available on SteamGridDB (I'd wager) is not at all related to Nintendo. Most of it is for PC games. I don't think a single dev or publisher has ever issued a DMCA takedown for someone having posted a bit of fan artwork to put in your Steam library. I use this site all the time, but I use it only for my older games in my Steam library that don't have artwork in the new "vertical" style, or when devs replace the old artwork with new ones to advertise a new update or patch (I really hate that).
Honestly, this is just shitposting in legal form by Nintendo (although the legality of abusing the DMCA this way is murky at best).
Honestly, this is just shitposting in legal form by Nintendo (although the legality of abusing the DMCA this way is murky at best).
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I took a step away from emulation as a whole because I see myself using their games as still a win for them even if I got them for free because of stuff like this. I think ppl that really don't like this should consider not being patron in any format and just advocate or showcase other devs that don't take this stance when it comes to ROMs.
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I must admit I'm rather surprised by the replies I'm seeing on here. I'm not a fan of Nintendo's fondness for litigation and threatening folks with legal action by any means, but I think people are misunderstanding what's happening here. If they're taking down fanart, then yes, they're on shaky ground at best, but if it's official box art, renders, anything like that (and speaking as a Canadian, not a lawyer), they own that and they may very well be within their right to request it be removed.
As for the article title suggesting that they are doing this specifically because of people emulating their titles on the deck, while that may perhaps be case, it's a little presumptive. I'd imagine someone on their legal team came across it while looking for something to justify their continued employment and they jumped on it.
That being said, this is just my two cents, make of it what you will.
As for the article title suggesting that they are doing this specifically because of people emulating their titles on the deck, while that may perhaps be case, it's a little presumptive. I'd imagine someone on their legal team came across it while looking for something to justify their continued employment and they jumped on it.
That being said, this is just my two cents, make of it what you will.
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Nintendo is so infamous for being a copyright bully, that even if it's a legitimate claim in this case, they'll be ridiculed for it. Their reputation precedes them.
Last edited by Shmerl on 22 November 2022 at 11:46 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 22 November 2022 at 11:46 pm UTC
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Quoting: Purple Library GuySo, like, one question in my mind . . . is Nintendo making this stuff available in any other way? Can you buy the games from Nintendo? I'm thinking probably not.Can't comment on everything they might've targetted, but the games listed in the GOL article are all recent (last five years) or brand-new releases, and all are currently available.
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officernice Nov 23, 2022
Blizzard and Nintendo. On the tippity top of companies who won't get a dime from me ever again.
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ElectricPrism Nov 23, 2022
If only Nintendo was smart enough to take consumer interest in their products and convert it into money.
You know... like Valve when they took HL2 Mod Remake of HL1 Black MESA and literally brought it on to their store, sold it and reinvested the money into making it better.
I havent played a Nintendo game or purchased a Nintendo console in many years -- their IP should have "grown" with me/us as we got older -- and they didn't.
They really are out of touch with their market and have thrown out 30 -50 year old manchilds with disposable income able to buy $2,000 Graphics Cards to cater exclusively to 12 year olds.
Their fiscal market logic makes ZERO cents.
You know... like Valve when they took HL2 Mod Remake of HL1 Black MESA and literally brought it on to their store, sold it and reinvested the money into making it better.
I havent played a Nintendo game or purchased a Nintendo console in many years -- their IP should have "grown" with me/us as we got older -- and they didn't.
They really are out of touch with their market and have thrown out 30 -50 year old manchilds with disposable income able to buy $2,000 Graphics Cards to cater exclusively to 12 year olds.
Their fiscal market logic makes ZERO cents.
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CringyBoi42069 Nov 23, 2022
Quoting: Purple Library GuySo, like, one question in my mind . . . is Nintendo making this stuff available in any other way? Can you buy the games from Nintendo? I'm thinking probably not.
All of these games are Switch games that you can buy still makes no sense to go after images
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BlackBloodRum Nov 23, 2022
Quoting: ElectricPrismIf only Nintendo was smart enough to take consumer interest in their products and convert it into money.
You know... like Valve when they took HL2 Mod Remake of HL1 Black MESA and literally brought it on to their store, sold it and reinvested the money into making it better.
I havent played a Nintendo game or purchased a Nintendo console in many years -- their IP should have "grown" with me/us as we got older -- and they didn't.
They really are out of touch with their market and have thrown out 30 -50 year old manchilds with disposable income able to buy $2,000 Graphics Cards to cater exclusively to 12 year olds.
Their fiscal market logic makes ZERO cents.
While I personally don't support Nintendo for numerous reasons; I think one point you're missing here is that Nintendo was never entirely aimed at children.
If you consider early Nintendo, the games may seem childish to some; but a very large portion of their customer base was in fact adults who were enjoying those games even if some of whom may have found said games childish. It should be noted also that a portion of said customer base were children of course and said children still play Nintendo games.
Having games that may appear childish is what defines the "Nintendo" style. To clarify, my point here is that Nintendo's largest customer base enjoy said "childish" games, and for them it is not a problem.
This can easily be observed simply by their sales numbers; the switch being of poor quality (even for a Nintendo console) still outsold the PS5 and Xbox X.
Thus, while their method may be different than most, it certainly seems to be working for them.
What's not working however, is their constant tactics of turning against their core customer base turning them away with actions such as what this article mentions.
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NerdNoiseRadio Nov 23, 2022
Apologies for the long-winded (even by my pervasively verbose standards), but this is actually a bit of a passion subject for me:
So, before I say anything else, lemme first just say that if I ever do start messing with Switch emulation on my Steam Deck and try to add those games to my Steam Library, I'm using that "asset does not exist because of DMCA" image as my image for the game! 😂
Now, prior to the advent of the Steam Deck, I had felt myself in a real catch 22:
On the one hand, the Switch was far and away my #1 preferred system thanks to its "console / handheld hybrid" flexibility, and Nintendo was (and perhaps even still is) my #1 favorite company as a content / culture / experience creator, with the Genesis / TG16 and PS1 being the only times in all of gaming history where I preferred one of the rival consoles over Nintendo's entry for the given generation (and yes, that includes the WiiU).
On the other hand, as a litigious, draconian, blatantly anti-consumer legal entity....I HATED them. Full stop.
And this sense of inner conflict over these polar-conflicting simultaneously felt feelings had only been growing stronger and stronger as I had become more and more aware of my feeling them. I felt that I (and all Nintendo fans everywhere) were in an abusive relationship with Nintendo themselves, but that we stuck around because [STRICTLY metaphorically speaking] "the sex was so damned good". So I felt trapped, stuck in the perfect center between extreme love and extreme hate for this company.....
....then the Steam Deck came along, and enabled me to no longer feel so beholden to the Switch, and therefore, no longer so beholden to Nintendo.
And the difference was night and day.
Certainly, I still feel love for their content and cultural contributions to gaming, and certainly, I still enjoy a number of their games and storied franchises. But I no longer feel like the two feelings are a wash or that I'm held hostage by a tie. And now that I have broken free of that, I see their continued actions beyond that point as having been even worse than I had allowed myself to see previously. They're horrible!
While I am stopping just short of commiting to an all-out boycott of Nintendo, they have certainly lost my loyalty. If they offer a product or service that I really, really want, I will not deprive myself that service on principle. But if there is any way to get it 2nd hand, or aftermarket, so as to not put that extra coin in their coffers, I'll be sure to do so. And furthermore, I've allowed my NSO membership to lapse, with it being very unlikely that I'll opt to renew it later. My Switch has hardly been touched since getting the Deck, and I have purchased absolutely zero games of any kind for the system since securing my Deck. When my family gifted me some eShop gift cards, I bought 3DS games with them. Once I got my foot out of the bear trap, I ran (well, hobbled) away as fast as I could. :-)
Now I feel way more anger and sadness when I look Kyoto-ward than joy, and what joy I do still feel is dominated by the joy of relief at no longer being anywhere near so at the mercy of the merciless. The Steam Deck isn't just a great system on its own merits for me, it's also something of a liberation, of an emancipation. And that just makes it all the more beloved to me!
Cheers!
So, before I say anything else, lemme first just say that if I ever do start messing with Switch emulation on my Steam Deck and try to add those games to my Steam Library, I'm using that "asset does not exist because of DMCA" image as my image for the game! 😂
Now, prior to the advent of the Steam Deck, I had felt myself in a real catch 22:
On the one hand, the Switch was far and away my #1 preferred system thanks to its "console / handheld hybrid" flexibility, and Nintendo was (and perhaps even still is) my #1 favorite company as a content / culture / experience creator, with the Genesis / TG16 and PS1 being the only times in all of gaming history where I preferred one of the rival consoles over Nintendo's entry for the given generation (and yes, that includes the WiiU).
On the other hand, as a litigious, draconian, blatantly anti-consumer legal entity....I HATED them. Full stop.
And this sense of inner conflict over these polar-conflicting simultaneously felt feelings had only been growing stronger and stronger as I had become more and more aware of my feeling them. I felt that I (and all Nintendo fans everywhere) were in an abusive relationship with Nintendo themselves, but that we stuck around because [STRICTLY metaphorically speaking] "the sex was so damned good". So I felt trapped, stuck in the perfect center between extreme love and extreme hate for this company.....
....then the Steam Deck came along, and enabled me to no longer feel so beholden to the Switch, and therefore, no longer so beholden to Nintendo.
And the difference was night and day.
Certainly, I still feel love for their content and cultural contributions to gaming, and certainly, I still enjoy a number of their games and storied franchises. But I no longer feel like the two feelings are a wash or that I'm held hostage by a tie. And now that I have broken free of that, I see their continued actions beyond that point as having been even worse than I had allowed myself to see previously. They're horrible!
While I am stopping just short of commiting to an all-out boycott of Nintendo, they have certainly lost my loyalty. If they offer a product or service that I really, really want, I will not deprive myself that service on principle. But if there is any way to get it 2nd hand, or aftermarket, so as to not put that extra coin in their coffers, I'll be sure to do so. And furthermore, I've allowed my NSO membership to lapse, with it being very unlikely that I'll opt to renew it later. My Switch has hardly been touched since getting the Deck, and I have purchased absolutely zero games of any kind for the system since securing my Deck. When my family gifted me some eShop gift cards, I bought 3DS games with them. Once I got my foot out of the bear trap, I ran (well, hobbled) away as fast as I could. :-)
Now I feel way more anger and sadness when I look Kyoto-ward than joy, and what joy I do still feel is dominated by the joy of relief at no longer being anywhere near so at the mercy of the merciless. The Steam Deck isn't just a great system on its own merits for me, it's also something of a liberation, of an emancipation. And that just makes it all the more beloved to me!
Cheers!
2 Likes, Who?
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